Device interfacing

ABSTRACT

Many devices may comprise interfaces, such as serial interfaces, over which configuration and/or enablement/disablement of device features may be provided to the device. Connecting a computer to individual devices for manual configuration may be cumbersome and/or time consuming. Accordingly, as provided herein, a device interfacing component (e.g., a microcontroller integrated into an interface cable) is configured to couple to a target device. The device interfacing component may receive data streams from the target device, and may match strings, within the data streams, to expressions. If a string matches an expression (e.g., “F5 for IP setup”), then a corresponding scripted response may be executed to send a response instruction (F5, wait 10 seconds, enter key, “192,168.0.1”) to the target device. In this way, the device interfacing component may provide automated configuration for the target device and/or may be daisy chained with other device interfacing components for configuration of other target devices.

BACKGROUND

Many devices, such as network switches, data storage controllers,industrial controllers, etc., may have communication interfaces such asa serial interface (e.g., an RS232 serial connection). A device may bemanufactured with a set of features and/or configuration (e.g., networkconfiguration information), which may be later enabled and/or tailoredto a particular environment, within which the device is to be deployed,by connecting an administrator computer, such as a laptop, to a serialinterface of the device. Connecting the administrator computer, hostingdevice configuration software, to individual devices for manualconfiguration may be cumbersome and/or time consuming for anadministrator. Accordingly, a cost effective, efficient, and automatedway to configure devices may be advantageous.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present disclosure, one or more systems and/ormethods for interfacing with a device are provided. A device interfacingcomponent (e.g., a microprocessor integrated into an interface cablesuch as a serial cable) may comprise a target device interfaceoperatively coupled to a target device over a target devicecommunication connection (e.g., the device interfacing component maycomprise a serial port connected by a serial cable to a target deviceserial port of the target device). The target device interface may beconfigured to receive a data stream from the target device (e.g., astring of characters corresponding to a feature enablement and/orconfiguration command line interface application of the target device).

The device interfacing component may comprise a matching component. Thematching component may be configured to identify a string from the datastream (e.g., the command line interface application may output “F5 forRAID configuration”). The matching component may compare the string to aset of expressions associated with a set of scripted responses (e.g., anexpression “F5 for RAID configuration” may be associated with a raidconfiguration scripted response “F5, wait 20 seconds, enter key, escapekey, enter key” used to enable a RAID configuration for the targetdevice). Responsive to identifying a match between the string and anexpression, a scripted response associated with the expression may beidentified, such as the raid configuration scripted response. Thematching component may execute the scripted response to send a responseinstruction (an F5 key command, an enter key command after 20 seconds,an escape key command, and an enter key command) over the target devicecommunication connection to the target device.

The device interfacing component may comprise a computing deviceinterface operatively coupled to a computing device over a computingdevice communication connection (e.g., a universal serial bus (USB)connection to an administrator laptop). The device interfacing componentmay send the data stream to the computing device. In an example, thecomputing device interface may receive a matching componentconfiguration instruction from the computing device. The matchingcomponent configuration instruction may be implemented to create,remove, or modify expressions and/or scripted responses.

In an example, a plurality of device interfacing components, connectedto target devices, may be connected according to a daisy chainconfiguration. The computing device may send an access request, throughthe daisy chain to a particular target device, to access a data streamof that target device. The computing device may send a propagationrequest, through the daisy chain to a particular target device, toimplement a matching component configuration instruction for thatparticular target device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the techniques presented herein may be embodied in alternativeforms, the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings are only afew examples that are supplemental of the description provided herein.These embodiments are not to be interpreted in a limiting manner, suchas limiting the claims appended hereto.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a scenario involving various examples ofnetworks that may connect servers and clients.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a scenario involving an exampleconfiguration of a server that may utilize and/or implement at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a scenario involving an exampleconfiguration of a client that may utilize and/or implement at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 4A is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forinterfacing with a device.

FIG. 4B is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forinterfacing with a device, where a matching component configurationinstruction is provided to a device interfacing component.

FIG. 4C is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forinterfacing with a device, where a data stream is received from a targetdevice.

FIG. 4D is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forinterfacing with a device, where a response instruction is provided to atarget device.

FIG. 5A is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forinterfacing with a device, where a data stream is received from a targetdevice.

FIG. 5B is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forinterfacing with a device, where a response instruction is provided to atarget device.

FIG. 6 is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forinterfacing with a device, where a plurality of device interfacingcomponents are daisy chained together.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user interface of a computing devicecoupled to a device interfacing component.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of interfacingwith a device.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a scenario featuring an examplenontransitory memory device in accordance with one or more of theprovisions set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments. Thisdescription is not intended as an extensive or detailed discussion ofknown concepts. Details that are known generally to those of ordinaryskill in the relevant art may have been omitted, or may be handled insummary fashion.

The following subject matter may be embodied in a variety of differentforms, such as methods, devices, components, and/or systems.Accordingly, this subject matter is not intended to be construed aslimited to any example embodiments set forth herein. Rather, exampleembodiments are provided merely to be illustrative. Such embodimentsmay, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware or anycombination thereof.

1. Computing Scenario

The following provides a discussion of some types of computing scenariosin which the disclosed subject matter may be utilized and/orimplemented.

1.1. Networking

FIG. 1 is an interaction diagram of a scenario 100 illustrating aservice 102 provided by a set of servers 104 to a set of client devices110 via various types of networks. The servers 104 and/or client devices110 may be capable of transmitting, receiving, processing, and/orstoring many types of signals, such as in memory as physical memorystates.

The servers 104 of the service 102 may be internally connected via alocal area network 106 (LAN), such as a wired network where networkadapters on the respective servers 104 are interconnected via cables(e.g., coaxial and/or fiber optic cabling), and may be connected invarious topologies (e.g., buses, token rings, meshes, and/or trees). Theservers 104 may be interconnected directly, or through one or more othernetworking devices, such as routers, switches, and/or repeaters. Theservers 104 may utilize a variety of physical networking protocols(e.g., Ethernet and/or Fibre Channel) and/or logical networkingprotocols (e.g., variants of an Internet Protocol (IP), a TransmissionControl Protocol (TCP), and/or a User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The localarea network 106 may include, e.g., analog telephone lines, such as atwisted wire pair, a coaxial cable, full or fractional digital linesincluding T1, T2, T3, or T4 type lines, Integrated Services DigitalNetworks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wireless linksincluding satellite links, or other communication links or channels,such as may be known to those skilled in the art. The local area network106 may be organized according to one or more network architectures,such as server/client, peer-to-peer, and/or mesh architectures, and/or avariety of roles, such as administrative servers, authenticationservers, security monitor servers, data stores for objects such as filesand databases, business logic servers, time synchronization servers,and/or front-end servers providing a user-facing interface for theservice 102.

Likewise, the local area network 106 may comprise one or moresub-networks, such as may employ differing architectures, may becompliant or compatible with differing protocols and/or may interoperatewithin the local area network 106. Additionally, a variety of local areanetworks 106 may be interconnected; e.g., a router may provide a linkbetween otherwise separate and independent local area networks 106.

In the scenario 100 of FIG. 1, the local area network 106 of the service102 is connected to a wide area network 108 (WAN) that allows theservice 102 to exchange data with other services 102 and/or clientdevices 110. The wide area network 108 may encompass variouscombinations of devices with varying levels of distribution andexposure, such as a public wide-area network (e.g., the Internet) and/ora private network (e.g., a virtual private network (VPN) of adistributed enterprise).

In the scenario 100 of FIG. 1, the service 102 may be accessed via thewide area network 108 by a user 112 of one or more client devices 110,such as a portable media player (e.g., an electronic text reader, anaudio device, or a portable gaming, exercise, or navigation device); aportable communication device (e.g., a camera, a phone, a wearable or atext chatting device); a workstation; and/or a laptop form factorcomputer. The respective client devices 110 may communicate with theservice 102 via various connections to the wide area network 108. As afirst such example, one or more client devices 110 may comprise acellular communicator and may communicate with the service 102 byconnecting to the wide area network 108 via a wireless local areanetwork 106 provided by a cellular provider. As a second such example,one or more client devices 110 may communicate with the service 102 byconnecting to the wide area network 108 via a wireless local areanetwork 106 provided by a location such as the user's home or workplace(e.g., a WiFi network or a Bluetooth personal area network). In thismanner, the servers 104 and the client devices 110 may communicate overvarious types of networks. Other types of networks that may be accessedby the servers 104 and/or client devices 110 include mass storage, suchas network attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), orother forms of computer or machine readable media.

1.2. Server Configuration

FIG. 2 presents a schematic architecture diagram 200 of a server 104that may utilize at least a portion of the techniques provided herein.Such a server 104 may vary widely in configuration or capabilities,alone or in conjunction with other servers, in order to provide aservice such as the service 102.

The server 104 may comprise one or more processors 210 that processinstructions. The one or more processors 210 may optionally include aplurality of cores; one or more coprocessors, such as a mathematicscoprocessor or an integrated graphical processing unit (GPU); and/or oneor more layers of local cache memory. The server 104 may comprise memory202 storing various forms of applications, such as an operating system204; one or more server applications 206, such as a hypertext transportprotocol (HTTP) server, a file transfer protocol (FTP) server, or asimple mail transport protocol (SMTP) server; and/or various forms ofdata, such as a database 208 or a file system. The server 104 maycomprise a variety of peripheral components, such as a wired and/orwireless network adapter 214 connectible to a local area network and/orwide area network; one or more storage components 216, such as a harddisk drive, a solid-state storage device (SSD), a flash memory device,and/or a magnetic and/or optical disk reader.

The server 104 may comprise a mainboard featuring one or morecommunication buses 212 that interconnect the processor 210, the memory202, and various peripherals, using a variety of bus technologies, suchas a variant of a serial or parallel AT Attachment (ATA) bus protocol; aUniform Serial Bus (USB) protocol; and/or Small Computer SystemInterface (SCI) bus protocol. In a multibus scenario, a communicationbus 212 may interconnect the server 104 with at least one other server.Other components that may optionally be included with the server 104(though not shown in the schematic diagram 200 of FIG. 2) include adisplay; a display adapter, such as a graphical processing unit (GPU);input peripherals, such as a keyboard and/or mouse; and a flash memorydevice that may store a basic input/output system (BIOS) routine thatfacilitates booting the server 104 to a state of readiness.

The server 104 may operate in various physical enclosures, such as adesktop or tower, and/or may be integrated with a display as an“all-in-one” device. The server 104 may be mounted horizontally and/orin a cabinet or rack, and/or may simply comprise an interconnected setof components. The server 104 may comprise a dedicated and/or sharedpower supply 218 that supplies and/or regulates power for the othercomponents. The server 104 may provide power to and/or receive powerfrom another server and/or other devices. The server 104 may comprise ashared and/or dedicated climate control unit 220 that regulates climateproperties, such as temperature, humidity, and/or airflow. Many suchservers 104 may be configured and/or adapted to utilize at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

1.3. Client Device Configuration

FIG. 3 presents a schematic architecture diagram 300 of a client device110 whereupon at least a portion of the techniques presented herein maybe implemented. Such a client device 110 may vary widely inconfiguration or capabilities, in order to provide a variety offunctionality to a user such as the user 112. The client device 110 maybe provided in a variety of form factors, such as a desktop or towerworkstation; an “all-in-one” device integrated with a display 308; alaptop, tablet, convertible tablet, or palmtop device; a wearable devicemountable in a headset, eyeglass, earpiece, and/or wristwatch, and/orintegrated with an article of clothing; and/or a component of a piece offurniture, such as a tabletop, and/or of another device, such as avehicle or residence. The client device 110 may serve the user in avariety of roles, such as a workstation, kiosk, media player, gamingdevice, and/or appliance.

The client device 110 may comprise one or more processors 310 thatprocess instructions. The one or more processors 310 may optionallyinclude a plurality of cores; one or more coprocessors, such as amathematics coprocessor or an integrated graphical processing unit(GPU); and/or one or more layers of local cache memory. The clientdevice 110 may comprise memory 301 storing various forms ofapplications, such as an operating system 303; one or more userapplications 302, such as document applications, media applications,file and/or data access applications, communication applications such asweb browsers and/or email clients, utilities, and/or games; and/ordrivers for various peripherals. The client device 110 may comprise avariety of peripheral components, such as a wired and/or wirelessnetwork adapter 306 connectible to a local area network and/or wide areanetwork; one or more output components, such as a display 308 coupledwith a display adapter (optionally including a graphical processing unit(GPU)), a sound adapter coupled with a speaker, and/or a printer; inputdevices for receiving input from the user, such as a keyboard 311, amouse, a microphone, a camera, and/or a touch-sensitive component of thedisplay 308; and/or environmental sensors, such as a global positioningsystem (GPS) receiver 319 that detects the location, velocity, and/oracceleration of the client device 110, a compass, accelerometer, and/orgyroscope that detects a physical orientation of the client device 110.Other components that may optionally be included with the client device110 (though not shown in the schematic diagram 300 of FIG. 3) includeone or more storage components, such as a hard disk drive, a solid-statestorage device (SSD), a flash memory device, and/or a magnetic and/oroptical disk reader; and/or a flash memory device that may store a basicinput/output system (BIOS) routine that facilitates booting the clientdevice 110 to a state of readiness; and a climate control unit thatregulates climate properties, such as temperature, humidity, andairflow.

The client device 110 may comprise a mainboard featuring one or morecommunication buses 312 that interconnect the processor 310, the memory301, and various peripherals, using a variety of bus technologies, suchas a variant of a serial or parallel AT Attachment (ATA) bus protocol;the Uniform Serial Bus (USB) protocol; and/or the Small Computer SystemInterface (SCI) bus protocol. The client device 110 may comprise adedicated and/or shared power supply 318 that supplies and/or regulatespower for other components, and/or a battery 304 that stores power foruse while the client device 110 is not connected to a power source viathe power supply 318. The client device 110 may provide power to and/orreceive power from other client devices.

In some scenarios, as a user 112 interacts with a software applicationon a client device 110 (e.g., an instant messenger and/or electronicmail application), descriptive content in the form of signals or storedphysical states within memory (e.g., an email address, instant messengeridentifier, phone number, postal address, message content, date, and/ortime) may be identified. Descriptive content may be stored, typicallyalong with contextual content. For example, the source of a phone number(e.g., a communication received from another user via an instantmessenger application) may be stored as contextual content associatedwith the phone number. Contextual content, therefore, may identifycircumstances surrounding receipt of a phone number (e.g., the date ortime that the phone number was received), and may be associated withdescriptive content. Contextual content, may, for example, be used tosubsequently search for associated descriptive content. For example, asearch for phone numbers received from specific individuals, receivedvia an instant messenger application or at a given date or time, may beinitiated. The client device 110 may include one or more servers thatmay locally serve the client device 110 and/or other client devices ofthe user 112 and/or other individuals. For example, a locally installedwebserver may provide web content in response to locally submitted webrequests. Many such client devices 110 may be configured and/or adaptedto utilize at least a portion of the techniques presented herein.

2. Presented Techniques

One or more systems and/or techniques for interfacing with a device areprovided. Many devices, such as network switches, network routers,storage controllers, manufacturing and industrial devices, etc., mayexpose access for enablement/disablement of features and/orconfiguration through an interface, such as a serial interface.Connecting a computing device, such as an administrator laptop, toindividual devices so that a user may manually configure and/or accessfeatures of the device using a software application hosted on theadministrator laptop may be cumbersome and time consuming. Accordingly,as provided herein, a device interfacing component (e.g., amicrocontroller integrated into or configured to couple to an interfacecable such as a serial cable) is configured to couple to a device forautomated enablement/disablement of features and/or configuration of thedevice using automated execution of pre-defined scripts. A plurality ofdevice interfacing components, connected to a plurality of targetdevices, may be daisy chained together so that configurationinstructions may be propagated to multiple device interfacing componentsand/or target devices, and that data streams from target devices may bepassed through the daisy chain of device interfacing components to acomputing device such as an administrator laptop for management ofmultiple devices from a single computing device.

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate examples of a system 400, comprising a deviceinterfacing component 404, for interface with a device. The deviceinterfacing component 404 (e.g., a standalone component, amicrocontroller integrated into an interface cable such as a serialcable, etc.) may comprise a computing device interface 412 operativelycoupled to a computing device 402 over a computing device communicationconnection (e.g., an administrator computer comprising a user interfacethrough which data streams from a target device 426 are displayed andinstructions are input and sent to the device interfacing component404). The computing device interface 412 may be configured to receive amatching component configuration instruction 430 from the computingdevice 402 over the computing device communication connection, asillustrated in FIG. 4B. The matching component configuration instruction430 may comprise instructions to create, remove, and/or modifyexpressions within a set of expression 420 and/or scripted responseswithin a set of scripted responses 422 used by a matching component 418,of the device interfacing component 404, for sending responseinstructions to the target device 426 for enabling/disabling featuresand/or configuring the target device 426. In an example, the matchingcomponent configuration instruction 430 may create a new expression “F6to enable temperature monitoring” and a new scripted response (F6, wait10 seconds, right arrow, enter key) for the new expression, such thatthe new scripted response may be executed by the matching component 418to send a response instruction to the target device 426 based upon astring of a data stream from the target device 426 matching the newexpression.

The device interfacing component 404 may comprise a target deviceinterface 406 operatively coupled to the target device 426 over a targetdevice communication connection (e.g., a serial connection, anintelligent platform management interface, or any other wired orwireless communication connection). The target device interface 406 maybe configured to receive a data stream 436 from the target device 426,as illustrated in FIG. 4C. In an example, the device interfacingcomponent 404 may operate as a passthrough device, such that the datastream 436 is passed through the device interfacing component 404 andthe computing device interface 412 to the computing device 402, such asfor display through the user interface.

The matching component 418 may be configured to identify a string fromthe data stream 436, such as a string “F5 for IP address setup”. Thematching component 418 may compare the string to the set of expressions420. Responsive to identifying a match between the string and anexpression (e.g., the string “F5 for IP address setup” may match anexpression “F5 for IP address setup” or may exceed a thresholdsimilarity with an expression “Press F5 for IP address configuration”and thus may be determined as a match), the matching component 418 mayidentify, from the set of scripted responses 422, a scripted responseassociated with the expression such as a pre-defined script (F5, wait 20seconds, down arrow, enter key, wait 10 seconds, “192.168.0.1”). Thescripted response may comprise a pause, a character input, a key commandinput, or any other input recognizable by the target device 426. Thescripted response may invoke a configuration command for the targetdevice 426 (e.g., an IP address configuration) and/or an enablement ordisablement of a feature of the target device 426 (e.g., enablement ofnetwork access). The matching component 418 may execute the scriptedresponse to send a response instruction 438 over the target devicecommunication connection to the target device 426, as illustrated inFIG. 4D. For example, the matching component 418 may comprise ascripting module 424 (e.g., a script execution engine) configured toautomatically execute the pre-defined script to implement the scriptedresponse.

In an example, the device interfacing component 404 may be daisy chainedwith a plurality of device interfacing components utilizing apassthrough interface, such as an input passthrough interface 408 and anoutput passthrough interface 414 and/or a configuration propagationinterface, such as an input configuration propagation interface 410 andan output configuration propagation interface 416. In an example, thedevice interfacing component 404 may comprise a hybrid interface, notillustrated, corresponding to a single interface (e.g., a single inputinterface and a single output interface, a single bi-directionalinterface, etc.) used as the passthrough interface and the configurationpropagation interface.

In an example, the passthrough interface (e.g., or the hybrid interface)may operatively couple the device interfacing component 404, accordingto a daisy chain configuration, to a second device interfacing componentconnected to a second target device (e.g., the input passthroughinterface 408 may be connected to a second output passthrough interfaceof the second device interfacing component). The passthrough interfacemay be configured to receive a second data stream, obtained by thesesecond device interfacing component from the second target device, fromthe second device interfacing component. The passthrough interface mayprovide the second data stream through the computing device interface412 to the computing device 402 such as for display through the userinterface. In an example, the passthrough interface may provide thesecond data stream to the computing device 402 based upon an accessrequest received from the computing device 402.

In an example, the configuration propagation interface (e.g., or thehybrid interface) may operatively couple the device interfacingcomponent 404, according to the daisy chain configuration, to the seconddevice interfacing component connected to the second target device(e.g., the output configuration propagation interface 416 may beconnected to a second input configuration propagation interface of thesecond device interfacing component). The configuration propagationinterface may be configured to propagate a matching componentconfiguration instruction (e.g., the matching component configurationinstruction 430 implemented by the device interfacing component 404, asillustrated in FIG. 4B) to the second device interfacing component forimplementation. In an example, the configuration propagation interfacemay propagate the matching component configuration instruction basedupon a propagation request received from the computing device 402.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate examples of a system 500, comprising a deviceinterfacing component 504, for interfacing with a device. The deviceinterfacing component 504 may comprise a matching component 518configured to automatically listen for data streams, from a targetdevice 526 over a target device communication connection coupling thetarget device 526 to a target device interface 506 of the deviceinterfacing component 504, so that automated configuration and/orenablement/disablement of features of the target device 526 may beperformed by the matching component 518 using pre-defined scripts.

In an example, a data stream 536 may be received from the target device526, as illustrated in FIG. 5A. The matching component 518 may identifya string from the data stream 536, such as a string “F1 for networksetup”. The matching component 518 may compare the string to a set ofexpressions 520. Responsive to identifying a match between the stringand an expression (e.g., the string “F1 for network setup” may match anexpression “F1 for network setup” or may exceeding a threshold similarlywith an expression “Press F1 for networking setup” and thus may bedetermined as a match), the matching component 518 may identify, from aset of scripted responses 522, a scripted response associated with theexpression such as a pre-defined script (F1, wait 3 seconds, “NetworkABCD”). The matching component may execute the scripted response to senda response instruction 538 over the target device communicationconnection to the target device 526, as illustrated in FIG. 5B. Forexample, the matching component 518 may comprise a scripting module 524(e.g., a script execution engine) configured to automatically executethe pre-defined script to implement the scripted response. In this way,the target device 526 may be automatically configured, such as networkconfiguration, without manual intervention and/or costly equipment suchas computers or custom hardware (e.g., merely a microcontroller with atarget device interface, such as a serial port or cable, may beimplemented as the device interfacing component 504).

In an example, the device interfacing component 504 may comprise ahybrid interface (e.g., an input hybrid interface 508, an output hybridinterface 516, or a bidirectional hybrid interface). Data streams may bepassed from a second device interfacing component, through the hybridinterface and the device interfacing component 504, to a computingdevice (not illustrated). Matching component configuration instructionsmay be propagated from the computing device, through the deviceinterfacing component 504 and the hybrid interface, to the second deviceinterfacing component for implementation.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a system 600 comprising a plurality ofdevice interfacing components connected according to a daisy chainconfiguration. The system 600 may comprise a device interfacingcomponent (A) 604, a device interfacing component (B) 608, a deviceinterfacing component (C) 612, and/or other device interfacingcomponents. The device interfacing component (A) 604 may be connected toa target device (A) 606 over a first target device communicationconnection 618 coupling the target device (A) 606 to a target device (A)interface 604 a of the device interfacing component (A) 604. The deviceinterfacing component (B) 608 may be connected to a target device (B)610 over a second target device communication connection 620 couplingthe target device (B) 610 to a target device (B) interface 608 a of thedevice interfacing component (B) 608. The device interfacing component(C) 612 may be connected to a target device (C) 614 over a third targetdevice communication connection 622 coupling the target device (C) 614to a target device (C) interface 612 a of the device interfacingcomponent (C) 612. The device interfacing components may receive datastreams from and/or send response instructions to target devices overthe target device communication connections.

The device interfacing component (A) 604 may be connected to a computingdevice 602 over a computing device communication connection 616 couplingthe computing device 602 to a computing device interface 604 c of thedevice interfacing component (A) 604. The computing device 602 mayreceive data streams from the device interfacing components over thecomputing device communication connection 616. The computing device 602may send matching component configuration instructions to deviceinterfacing components over the computing device communicationconnection 616.

Device interfacing components may be daisy chained by passthroughcommunication connections and/or configuration propagation communicationconnections (or hybrid communication connections between hybridinterfaces). In an example of passthrough communication, the deviceinterfacing component (A) 604 may be daisy chained to the deviceinterfacing component (B) 608 by a first passthrough communicationconnection 624 connecting an input passthrough interface (A) 604 b ofthe device interfacing component (A) 604 to an output passthroughinterface (B) 608 d of the device interfacing component (B) 608. In thisway, the device interfacing component (B) 608 may send a data stream,received from the target device (B) 610, through the passthroughcommunication connection 624 and the device interfacing component (A)604 to the computing device 602, such as for display through the userinterface.

In another example of passthrough communication, the device interfacingcomponent (B) 608 may be daisy chained to the device interfacingcomponent (C) 612 by a second passthrough communication connection 626connecting an input passthrough interface (B) 608 b of the deviceinterfacing component (B) 608 to an output passthrough interface (C) 612c of the device interfacing component (C) 612. In this way, the deviceinterfacing component (C) 612 may send a data stream, received from thetarget device (C) 614, through the second passthrough communicationconnection 626, the device interfacing component (B) 608, thepassthrough communication connection 624, and the device interfacingcomponent (A) 604 to the computing device 602, such as for displaythrough the user interface.

In an example of configuration propagation, the device interfacingcomponent (A) 604 may be daisy chained to the device interfacingcomponent (B) 608 by a first configuration propagation communicationconnection 628 connecting an output configuration propagation interface(A) 604 d of the device interfacing component (A) 604 to an inputconfiguration propagation interface (B) 608 c of the device interfacingcomponent (B) 608. In this way, the computing device 602 may propagatematching component configuration instructions (e.g., an instruction tocreate, remove, or modify an expression and/or a scripted response)through the device interfacing component (A) 604 and the configurationpropagation communication connection 628 to the device interfacingcomponent (B) 608 for implementation.

In another example of configuration propagation, the device interfacingcomponent (B) 608 may be daisy chained to the device interfacingcomponent (C) 612 by a second configuration propagation communicationconnection 630 connecting an output configuration propagation interface(B) 608 e of the device interfacing component (B) 608 to an inputconfiguration propagation interface (C) 612 b of the device interfacingcomponent (C) 612. In this way, the computing device 602 may propagatematching component configuration instructions (e.g., an instruction tocreate, remove, or modify an expression and/or a scripted response)through the device interfacing component (A) 604, the configurationpropagation communication connection 628, the device interfacingcomponent (B) 608, and the second configuration propagationcommunication connection 630 to the device interfacing component (C) 612for implementation.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user interface 702 of a computingdevice connected to a device interfacing component that is coupled to atarget device. The user interface 702 may display a string “F3 for RAID”of a data stream received by the device interfacing component from thetarget device. The user interface 702 may display a scripted response706 provided by the device interfacing component to the target device asa response instruction (F5, wait 30 seconds, down arrow, down arrow,enter key, wait 5 seconds, enter key, escape key, enter key) based uponthe string “F3 for RAID” matching an expression “F3 for RAID” associatedwith the scripted response. The scripted response 706 may invoke a RAIDconfiguration command for the target device. The user interface 702 mayexpose a command menu 708 for the device interfacing component. Thecommand menu 708 may be populated with a display match command used todisplay a set of expressions and/or a set of scripted responsesprogramming into the device interfacing component, an add match commandused to create a new expression and/or a new scripted response for thedevice interfacing component (e.g., a user generated pre-definedscript), a clear memory to clear the set of expression and/or the set ofscripted responses of the device interfacing component, a restore memorycommand to restore the set of expression and/or the set of scriptedresponses to the device interfacing component, and/or other commandssuch as commands to modify expressions and/or scripted responses.

An embodiment of interfacing with a device is illustrated by an examplemethod 800 of FIG. 8. At 802, the method 800 starts. At 804, a datastream may be received over a target device communication connectionestablished between a target device interface of a device interfacingcomponent and a target device. At 806, a string may be identified fromthe data stream. At 808, the string may be compared to a set ofexpressions. At 810, responsive to identifying a match between thestring and an expression, a scripted response, associated with theexpression, may be identified. At 812, the scripted response may beexecuted to send a response instruction over the target devicecommunication connection to the target device. At 814, the method 800ends.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a scenario 900 involving an examplenontransitory memory device 902. The nontransitory memory device 902 maycomprise instructions that when executed perform at least some of theprovisions herein. The nontransitory memory device may comprise a memorysemiconductor (e.g., a semiconductor utilizing static random accessmemory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or synchronousdynamic random access memory (SDRAM) technologies), a platter of a harddisk drive, a flash memory device, or a magnetic or optical disc (suchas a CD, DVD, or floppy disk). The example nontransitory memory device902 stores computer-readable data 904 that, when subjected to reading906 by a reader 910 of a device 908 (e.g., a read head of a hard diskdrive, or a read operation invoked on a solid-state storage device),express processor-executable instructions 912. In some embodiments, theprocessor-executable instructions, when executed on a processor 916 ofthe device 908, are configured to perform a method, such as at leastsome of the example method 800 of FIG. 8, for example. In someembodiments, the processor-executable instructions, when executed on theprocessor 916 of the device 908, are configured to implement a system,such as at least some of the example system 400 of FIGS. 4A-4D, at leastsome of the example system 500 of FIGS. 5A-5B, and/or at least some ofthe example system 600 of FIG. 6, for example.

3. Usage of Terms

As used in this application, “component,” “module,” “system”,“interface”, and/or the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a controller and the controller can be a component. One or morecomponents may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and acomponent may be localized on one computer and/or distributed betweentwo or more computers.

Unless specified otherwise, “first,” “second,” and/or the like are notintended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering, etc.Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. forfeatures, elements, items, etc. For example, a first object and a secondobject generally correspond to object A and object B or two different ortwo identical objects or the same object.

Moreover, “example” is used herein to mean serving as an example,instance, illustration, etc., and not necessarily as advantageous. Asused herein, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than anexclusive “or”. In addition, “a” and “an” as used in this applicationare generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specifiedotherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Also,at least one of A and B and/or the like generally means A or B or both Aand B. Furthermore, to the extent that “includes”, “having”, “has”,“with”, and/or variants thereof are used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising”.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing at least some of the claims.

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. Of course, manymodifications may be made to this configuration without departing fromthe scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. In an embodiment,one or more of the operations described may constitute computer readableinstructions stored on one or more computer readable media, which ifexecuted by a computing device, will cause the computing device toperform the operations described. The order in which some or all of theoperations are described should not be construed as to imply that theseoperations are necessarily order dependent. Alternative ordering will beappreciated by one skilled in the art having the benefit of thisdescription. Further, it will be understood that not all operations arenecessarily present in each embodiment provided herein. Also, it will beunderstood that not all operations are necessary in some embodiments.

Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Thedisclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and islimited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regardto the various functions performed by the above described components(e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure. In addition, while aparticular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed withrespect to only one of several implementations, such feature may becombined with one or more other features of the other implementations asmay be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for interfacing with a device,comprising: a device interfacing component, comprising a microcontrollerintegrated into an interface cable, comprising: a computing deviceinterface operatively coupled to a computing device over a computingdevice communication connection via the interface cable, the computingdevice interface configured to: receive a matching componentconfiguration instruction from the computing device over the computingdevice communication connection; and implement the matching componentconfiguration instruction to modify a first scripted response for anexpression into a second scripted response for the expression, whereinthe expression is part of a set of expressions stored on the deviceinterfacing component, wherein the first scripted response is part of aset of scripted responses stored on the device interfacing component andassociated with the set of expressions prior to the modifying and thesecond scripted response is part of the set of scripted response afterthe modifying; a target device interface, operatively coupled to atarget device different than the computing device over a target devicecommunication connection different than the computing devicecommunication connection via the interface cable, configured to receivea data stream from the target device; and a matching componentconfigured to: identify a string from the data stream; compare thestring to the set of expressions; responsive to identifying a matchbetween the string and the expression, identify the second scriptedresponse as being associated with the expression; and execute the secondscripted response to send a response instruction over the target devicecommunication connection to the target device; the computing deviceinterface configured to: send the data stream, comprising the stringdetermined to match the expression of the set of expressions, over thecomputing device communication connection to the computing device. 2.The system of claim 1, the identifying a match comprising determiningthat the string exceeds a threshold similarity with the expression. 3.The system of claim 1, the matching component configuration instructioncomprising at least one of a create expression instruction, a removeexpression instruction, or a modify expression instruction.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, the matching component configuration instructioncomprising at least one of a create scripted response instruction, aremove scripted response instruction, or a modify scripted responseinstruction.
 5. The system of claim 1, the target device communicationconnection comprising at least one of a serial connection or anintelligent platform management interface.
 6. The system of claim 1, thesending the data stream to the computing device comprising operating thedevice interfacing component as a passthrough device to pass the datastream to the computing device for display on a user interface of thecomputing device.
 7. The system of claim 1, the second scripted responsecomprising at least one of a pause, a character input, or a key commandinput.
 8. The system of claim 1, the second scripted responsecorresponding to device input configured to invoke a configurationcommand for the target device.
 9. The system of claim 1, the secondscripted response corresponding to device input configured to enable ordisable a feature of the target device.
 10. The system of claim 1, themicrocontroller configured to implement the matching component.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the interface cable is a serial cable. 12.The system of claim 1, the matching component comprising: a scriptingmodule configured to automatically execute a pre-defined script toimplement the second scripted response based upon the string matchingthe expression.
 13. The system of claim 1, the device interfacingcomponent comprising: a hybrid interface operatively coupled accordingto a daisy chain configuration to a second device interfacing componentconnected to a second target device, the hybrid interface configured to:receive a second data stream, obtained by the second device interfacingcomponent from the second target device, from the second deviceinterfacing component; provide the second data stream through acomputing device interface to a computing device; and propagate amatching component configuration instruction, implemented by the deviceinterfacing component, to the second device interfacing component forimplementation.
 14. The system of claim 1, comprising: a plurality ofdevice interfacing components operatively coupled together according toa daisy chain configuration, the plurality of device interfacingcomponents comprising the device interfacing component and a seconddevice interfacing component.
 15. The system of claim 14, the deviceinterfacing component configured to: receive a request over a computingdevice communication connection established between a computing deviceand a computing device interface of the device interfacing component,the request corresponding to at least one of: an access request for asecond data stream received by the second device interfacing componentfrom a second target device; or a propagation request to propagate amatching component configuration instruction to the second deviceinterfacing component; and implement the request for the second deviceinterfacing component.
 16. The system of claim 1, the device interfacingcomponent configured to: expose a command menu for the deviceinterfacing component over the computing device interface to thecomputing device, the command menu populated with at least one of adisplay match command, an add match command, a clear memory command, ora restore memory command.
 17. A method for interfacing with a device,comprising: receiving a data stream over a target device communicationconnection established between a target device interface of a deviceinterfacing component, comprising a microcontroller integrated into aninterface cable, and a target device, wherein the target deviceinterface is operatively coupled to the target device via the interfacecable; identifying a string from the data stream; comparing the stringto a set of expressions; responsive to identifying a match between thestring and an expression, identifying a scripted response associatedwith the expression; executing the scripted response to send a responseinstruction over the target device communication connection to thetarget device; and sending the data stream, comprising the stringdetermined to match the expression of the set of expressions, over acomputing device communication connection different than the targetdevice communication connection to a computing device different than thetarget device.
 18. The method of claim 17, comprising: receiving amatching component configuration instruction from the computing deviceover the computing device communication connection; and implementing thematching component configuration instruction to modify at least one ofthe set of expressions or a set of scripted responses associated withthe set of expressions.
 19. A system for interfacing with a device,comprising: a device interfacing component, comprising a microcontrollerintegrated into an interface cable, comprising: a target deviceinterface operatively coupled to a target device over a target devicecommunication connection via the interface cable, the target deviceinterface configured to receive a data stream from the target device; amatching component configured to: identify a string from the datastream; compare the string to a set of expressions; responsive toidentifying a match between the string and an expression, identify ascripted response associated with the expression; and execute thescripted response to send a response instruction over the target devicecommunication connection to the target device; a computing deviceinterface operatively coupled to a computing device different than thetarget device over a computing device communication connection differentthan the target device communication connection via the interface cable,the computing device interface configured to: send the data stream,comprising the string determined to match the expression of the set ofexpressions, over the computing device communication connection to thecomputing device; and a hybrid interface operatively coupled accordingto a daisy chain configuration to a second device interfacing componentconnected to a second target device, the hybrid interface configured to:receive a second data stream, obtained by the second device interfacingcomponent from the second target device, from the second deviceinterfacing component; provide the second data stream through acomputing device interface to a computing device; and propagate amatching component configuration instruction, implemented by the deviceinterfacing component, to the second device interfacing component forimplementation.